Feathers for Rosa

FEATHERS for ROSA

Following the success at The New Theatre, we are presenting further performances of Feathers for Rosa in 2025. Currently, performances are scheduled at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre and on Sherkin Island. More dates will be added soon.

To celebrate International Women’s Week 2024, Feathers for Rosa was premiered at The New Theatre, Dublin on 5th March 2024 and ran for three performances. Conceived and realised by Noël O’Callaghan and Douglas Henderson, it is a unique tribute to Rosa Luxemburg, revolutionary, visionary and rebel, featuring a hybrid evening of theatre performance, painting, music, poetry, and film.

Here is a short overview of the event:

https://vimeo.com/926677280

(Lighting design – Cathy O’Carroll, Stage Management – Eva Walsh, Video – Al Craig)

Feathers for Rosa intertwines the life, death and legacy of Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) with remnants and recollections of Berlin’s war-torn past.

From the poem ‘du liegst/you lie’ by German-Jewish poet Paul Celan to present-day Berlin, it weaves through time and place, memory and character.

Painting, music, poetry, performance and film evoke this remarkable woman, who challenged the status quo and inspired generations of socialists and feminists.

Her anti-militarist stance during WWI is contrasted with that of Emmeline Pankhurst’s White Feather Campaign. White Feathers collected from the Berlin canal swans now transform this erstwhile badge of shame into a symbol of defiance and peace in her name.

We are currently working on expanding the piece through the addition of new characters, music and movement, which will bring the whole event up to an hour. We are also delighted that the film component of the piece was selected for inclusion in the IndieCork Film Festival 2024.

To date, we have received no public funding and rely solely on the generosity of our donors - so if you have not already done so, please consider making a donation to our GoFundMe campaign.